Empedocles Philosophy Explained: Four Elements, Love and Strife, and the Origins of Change

Discover the complete philosophy of Empedocles (495–435 BC) — the Greek thinker who blended Parmenides’ permanence and Heraclitus’ change. Learn about his four elements theory, Love and Strife as cosmic forces, early evolution and soul transmigration, and how his ideas shaped Greek medicine and pluralism. Perfect revision notes for philosophy students.

Table of Contents:

Empedocles: Life and Works

Empedocles was a philosopher from Sicily, living around 495–435 BC.
He belonged to a rich family and was known as a philosopher, doctor, and magician.
It is said he once revived a woman who had been dead for a month.
Empedocles was very proud of his knowledge and considered himself equal to gods.
To prove his divine powers, he is believed to have jumped into a volcano, leading to his death — though some historians claim he died naturally.
He wrote two poems:
- On Nature – discusses the origin and nature of the world.
- On Purification – focuses on the human soul and its spiritual aspects.

Summary:
Empedocles was a multi-talented thinker from Sicily who combined philosophy, medicine, and mysticism. His pride in his powers led to a dramatic death, and his surviving works explore both the world’s origin and the soul’s purity.

Empedocles’ Reconciliation of Change and Permanence

Empedocles studied the ideas of Parmenides and Heraclitus and tried to combine their opposing views.
Parmenides believed that ultimate reality (being) is one, eternal, and unchanging — it can neither be created nor destroyed.
Heraclitus, on the other hand, taught that everything is in flux, that change is the only constant, symbolized by fire.
Parmenides denied change, while Heraclitus denied permanence — both holding opposite views of reality.
Empedocles proposed that both were partly right — reality is both permanent and changing.
He said ultimate reality is not one single thing but made up of four eternal elements (roots): earth, water, air, and fire.
These four roots are unchanging and permanent, just like Parmenides’ being.
Change and motion occur through the combination and separation of these elements — this supports Heraclitus’ idea of change.

Summary:
Empedocles bridged the gap between Parmenides and Heraclitus by teaching that reality consists of four unchanging elements—earth, water, air, and fire—whose mixing and separation create all change in the world. Thus, he united permanence and transformation in a single system.

Empedocles’ Theory of Love and Strife

Empedocles created harmony between Parmenides and Heraclitus — the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) are permanent, yet their mixing and separation cause change.
This type of change is relative, not absolute — the elements stay constant while their combinations vary.
By choosing these four elements, Empedocles also included ideas from earlier philosophers:
- Thales – water as the ultimate reality
- Anaximenes – air
- Heraclitus – fire
- Xenophanes – earth
Thus, his philosophy brings together the views of many predecessors.
However, Empedocles explained that change happens because of two opposing forces: Love (philia) and Strife (neikos).
Love causes elements to combine, while Strife causes them to separate.
These are not emotions but natural forces or principles that control motion and transformation.
In modern terms, Love and Strife can be compared to attraction and repulsion.
So, Empedocles’ system includes four material elements and two active forces, which together explain all motion and change in the universe.

Summary:
Empedocles explained that the world’s change results from the interaction of four eternal elements—earth, water, air, and fire—moved by two forces: Love (which unites) and Strife (which separates). This balance of permanence and change made his theory one of the earliest attempts to explain nature scientifically.

Philosophical Basis of Empedocles’ Thought

To truly understand Empedocles, we must look at the foundation of his philosophy and how it connects to earlier thinkers.
Philosophy is not just about remembering theories — it’s about seeing how ideas are interlinked across thinkers.
Parmenides gave three key axioms (premises) that form the base of his philosophy:
1. Monism – Ultimate reality is one.
2. What is, is – Being exists and is real.
3. What is not, is not – Non-being does not and cannot exist.
From these, Parmenides concluded that motion is impossible.
- For movement, empty space (non-being) must exist.
- But since non-being doesn’t exist, empty space cannot exist, so movement cannot happen.
Similarly, Parmenides denied change:
- Change could only occur if being changed into non-being, which is impossible.
- Change from being to being is not real change — it’s just sameness.
Therefore, in Parmenides’ logic, reality is one, static, and unchanging.

Summary:
Empedocles’ philosophy builds upon Parmenides’ reasoning. Parmenides’ strict logic denied motion and change because non-being cannot exist. Empedocles accepted this challenge and later sought to explain how change could still occur without violating these principles.

Empedocles’ Challenge to Parmenides’ Logic

When Empedocles studied Parmenides’ three axioms, he was surprised that they led to the denial of change and motion.
For Empedocles, this was unacceptable because change and motion are real experiences — we see things moving and transforming every day.
He believed that if a logical system contradicts real experience, the error must lie in the premises, not in reality itself.
Therefore, Empedocles began to re-examine and analyze Parmenides’ three axioms carefully.
He realized that something was wrong in Parmenides’ reasoning about being and non-being.
Empedocles’ goal became to prove that motion and change are possible without rejecting logic or reason.
To support his view, he introduced a simple experiment (to be discussed next) to show that change and movement can exist within the laws of nature.

Summary:
Empedocles questioned Parmenides’ denial of motion and change, arguing that everyday experience proves both are real. He suspected flaws in Parmenides’ premises and sought to logically demonstrate that change and motion are possible, preparing the ground for his own scientific explanation.

Empedocles’ Proof of Motion and Pluralism

Empedocles used a simple experiment to show that motion and change are possible — even without empty space.
He explained that when air leaves a tube, water immediately enters, without waiting for the tube to become empty.
This proves that movement can occur without nothingness (non-being); things can move even when space is already filled.
This directly refutes Parmenides’ claim that motion needs empty space.
However, Empedocles added an important condition: motion is possible only when there are at least two elements.
- Example: as air moves out, water moves in — one element replaces another.
From this, Empedocles concluded that reality cannot be made of just one substance.
He proposed that the ultimate reality is plural, composed of four basic elements — earth, water, air, and fire — and governed by two forces, Love and Strife.
Thus, while earlier thinkers like Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Parmenides, and Melissus were monists, Empedocles became the first major pluralist philosopher.
For him, reality consists of multiple eternal substances, not a single one.

Summary:
Empedocles proved through observation that motion does not require empty space — one element can replace another. This led him to reject monism and introduce pluralism, teaching that the universe is built from four eternal elements and two dynamic forces, making him a pioneer of scientific pluralism in Greek philosophy.

Empedocles on Motion, Space, and Perception

Empedocles agreed with Parmenides that empty space does not exist, because “nothing” cannot exist.
However, unlike Parmenides, he proved that motion is still possible even without empty space.
For example, a fish moves in water — there is no empty space in water, yet movement happens smoothly.
This idea became important for later philosophers, who also tried to explain motion without void.
Empedocles also introduced the first theory of sense perception in Greek philosophy.
He explained that every object gives off tiny material particles, which travel through the air.
When these particles touch our sense organs (like the eyes, nose, or skin), we perceive that object.
Example: when we see a black laptop, its black particles reach and touch our eyes — that’s why we perceive its black color.
Thus, perception happens through physical contact between object particles and sense organs.

Summary:
Empedocles denied the existence of empty space but showed that motion is still possible within a filled medium, like a fish moving in water. He also proposed an early material theory of perception, explaining that we sense objects when their tiny particles touch our senses.

Empedocles’ Early Theory of Evolution

Empedocles presented one of the earliest ideas of evolution in Greek philosophy.
He believed that in the beginning, human and animal parts — heads, arms, legs, shoulders — existed separately.
Through the action of the principle of Love, these parts began to join together.
The joining happened randomly, without any divine plan or design.
Combinations that were fit for survival continued to exist and multiply, while unfit combinations naturally perished.
Thus, only the strongest and most suitable forms survived — an early idea similar to natural selection.
Empedocles emphasized that this entire process was by chance, not guided by any god or purpose.
This view shows that he saw evolution as an accidental and natural process.
Like Anaximander, he believed that life developed gradually, from simple to more complex forms over time.

Summary:
Empedocles proposed a natural and accidental process of evolution where body parts joined randomly, and only the combinations best suited for survival endured. His idea foreshadowed later concepts of natural selection, making him one of the first thinkers to explain life’s development without divine intervention.

Empedocles’ Cyclical World Process

Empedocles described the world as a continuous cycle of unity and separation governed by Love and Strife.
In the beginning, the four elements — earth, water, air, and fire — were completely mixed together under the dominance of Love.
During this state of total unity, Strife (hate) remained outside the mixture.
Gradually, Strife entered and began to separate the elements from one another.
Eventually, there came a stage of complete separation, where Strife was dominant and Love was expelled.
After total separation, Love once again starts working, pulling the elements back toward unity.
This process of mixing and separating continues endlessly, making the world a cyclical process with no absolute beginning or end.
The world we experience exists only during the process — between complete unity and complete separation.
Empedocles believed that in the present age, Strife is becoming stronger, so the world is moving toward separation.

Summary:
Empedocles viewed the universe as an eternal cycle of unity and division. The four elements are bound together by Love and torn apart by Strife in a repeating cosmic rhythm. The world we know exists only during this ongoing process, not in the states of total unity or total separation.

Empedocles’ Concept of God and the World Process

Empedocles described a fascinating idea of God connected to his world process theory.
When the principle of Love completely dominates and all four elements are in perfect unity and harmony, he called that state the “Blessed God.”
This God is not a personal being but the entire process of combination and separation — the cosmic cycle itself.
He said that God is a process, not a person, and therefore has no human form — no head, body, arms, or legs.
Yet, Empedocles identified this divine process with the mind (nous) — an intelligent order present throughout the cosmos.
In this sense, his concept of God is similar to Xenophanes’ idea, where God is formless and identified with the universe itself.
However, there is an interesting contrast in his ideas:
- In his theory of evolution, Empedocles said that all life forms emerged by chance, without any divine plan or purpose.
- But in his world process theory, he described the universe itself as a divine, intelligent process (God).
This shows that Empedocles combined both scientific naturalism and spiritual cosmology within his philosophy.

Summary:
Empedocles called the perfectly unified state of elements under Love the “Blessed God”—a divine process without human form. He saw this cosmic cycle as guided by an all-pervading mind, similar to Xenophanes’ God. Yet, he also viewed evolution as a chance-driven event, revealing both rational and spiritual dimensions in his thought.

Empedocles’ Theory of Transmigration of the Soul

Empedocles also taught the theory of transmigration, the belief that the soul is reborn many times.
In his poem, he wrote that he had lived many lives — as a boy, a girl, a plant, a fish, and even a bird.
This shows that the same soul passes through different forms of life again and again.
However, this idea conflicts with his metaphysical theory, which says that reality is only material, made of four elements and two forces.
If everything is purely material, it is unclear how an immaterial soul can exist or survive after death.
Despite this contradiction, Empedocles believed that the soul continues its journey until it becomes pure.
Purification (katharsis) happens through knowledge and wisdom — by understanding the truth of existence.
Once the soul achieves purification, it can escape the cycle of rebirth and reach freedom.
This idea is strongly influenced by Pythagoras, whose philosophy also taught reincarnation and purification through knowledge.

Summary:
Empedocles believed that the soul undergoes many rebirths in different forms — human, animal, or plant — until it becomes pure through knowledge. Though this clashes with his materialist view of reality, it reflects Pythagorean influence, linking moral purification with liberation from the cycle of life and death.

Empedocles as Founder of Medical Thought

Empedocles is regarded as the founder of the Italian school of medicine.
He possessed practical knowledge of medicine and healing, combining philosophy with medical understanding.
According to him, the human body is made of four elements — fire, air, water, and earth.
Each of these elements has four natural properties: hot, cold, wet, and dry.
When these qualities become imbalanced, the body experiences illness, whether physical or mental.
Thus, health means balance (harmony) among these four properties, and disease means imbalance.
Empedocles’ idea became the foundation for later Greek and Roman medical theories, including Hippocrates’ four humors.
His overall philosophy was a blend of earlier ideas, aiming to reconcile contradictions and create unity among Greek thinkers.
The key feature of his system is pluralism — he rejected monism and taught that four fundamental substances form all reality.

Summary:
Empedocles linked philosophy with early medical science, explaining health and disease through the balance of four elemental qualities. His pluralistic view of nature — combining earth, air, fire, and water — not only opposed monism but also laid the groundwork for later scientific and medical thought.

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